1. Field
The present invention relates to a safety system for firearms, and is more particularly directed to a safety associated with a hammer to isolate the hammer from the firing pin of a firearm.
2. State of the Art
Loaded firearms are often used in hunting or other field situations in which the individual carrying the firearm may stumble or fall. Also, loaded firearms are occasionally inadvertently left in places where they may fall or be struck by other objects. Therefore, it is important that firearms have some type of "safety" mechanism to preclude loaded firearms from discharging when struck or jarred.
Typical safety systems include finger-actuated mechanisms conveniently located near the trigger of the firearm so that the shooter may disenable the firing mechanism. Certain firearms feature an exposed hammer which may be manually cocked or decocked. In normal operation, the hammer is released by a trigger pull from its cocked condition to strike a firing pin, thereby to discharge the gun. On such guns, disenabling the trigger mechanism is not entirely effective in precluding an accidental discharge, particularly if the hammer is directly contacted by a hard surface such as a rock or hard ground. Exposed hammer firearms can be discharged under certain conditions even when the hammer is in decocked condition.
Certain exposed-hammer firearms are structured so that the hammer may be placed in a "half-cock" position. Structure associated with the hammer allows it to be pulled back slightly and then to be eased into a "safe" position intermediate its "cocked" position and its "battery" or fired position. The spring or other biasing means associated with the hammer is of a strength selected so that it cannot deliver momentum to the hammer released from this "half-cocked" position sufficient to impact the firing pin with enough force to discharge a loaded shell. Nevertheless, if the hammer receives a sufficient blow, such as if the hammer is dropped directly on a rock, it is possible for the hammer to be released from its half-cocked position with sufficient momentum to discharge a shell.
There remains a need for a safety system for use in firearms having exposed hammers which will positively preclude the hammer from impacting the firing pin even when the hammer is directly contacted.